Leclerc leads Ferrari one-two in Italian GP first practice with upgraded engine

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two in first practice at Monza, an encouraging start for the Scuderia's upgraded ADUO 2 engine.

Why it matters:

Ferrari's new power unit is central to its push to close the gap, and a strong home showing is an early sign the upgrade is working. Antonelli starts from the back after a fresh Mercedes engine.

The details:

• Leclerc set the benchmark at 1m23.008s on mediums, with Lewis Hamilton 0.173s behind. Ferrari used the hard and medium, skipping the soft.
• Russell was third for Mercedes, 0.304s off, on soft; Antonelli was fifth after a new Mercedes engine; Lawson was fourth.
• Norris took sixth for McLaren, ahead of Lindblad, Bortoleto and the Alpines of Colapinto and Aron — the quickest of four FP1 rookies. Piastri was only 11th despite soft, as McLaren trialled its new upside-down H-wing.
• Tsunoda was next, ahead of Hulkenberg's Audi and Bearman's Haas — the only customer running Ferrari's new engine.
• Browning edged Sainz; Iwasa was 17th in Verstappen's Red Bull, ahead of Alonso. Herta's Cadillac broke down with a hydraulics problem.

What's next:

Ferrari will hope to carry this momentum into qualifying, but the pecking order remains unclear after varied strategies. Antonelli's grid penalty and McLaren's experimental rear wing add intrigue.